Production of cigarettes with mouthpieces



Aug. 2, 1955 sc 2,714,384

PRODUCTION OF CIGARETTES WITH MOUTHPIECES Filed Feb. 24, 1955 6 NVENTOR.

BY E

United States Patent PRODUCTION OF CIGARETTES WITH MUUTHPIECES Bernhard Schubert, Hamburg-Easel, Germany, assignor to Kurt Korber & Co. K. G., Hamburg-Bergedorf, Germany Application February 24, 1%53, Serial No. 338,36ll Claims priority, application Germany September 8, 1952 '7' Claims. (U. l31-94) The invention relates to a device applicable when uniting cigarettes with mouthpiece attachments, for folding down the flaps of a connecting strip of desired material around the abutting points of cigarettemouthpiece attachment assemblies lying on a conveyor device moved perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the cigarettes, for example on a drum, and subject to. suction action. Two known folding-down methods may be distinguished for folding down the connecting strips about the abutting points between the cigarette and the mouth-piece attachment, namely: firstly, folding down during the movement of the cigarette and mouthpiece attachment in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the cigarette (string processes) or secondly transversely thereto, in which groups of cigarettes and mouthpiece attachments are moved on a conveyor device perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the cigarettes. The following features are concerned with the second method.

In this process the cigarettes are withdrawn in known manner firstly in pairs, for example from a storage device, and fed to a drum in mutually spaced condition and a mouthpiece attachment of double length is introduced between both cigarettes, wherein the mouthpiece attachment is normally withdrawn from a storage device as a continuous piece of six-fold length and is divided twice before it is transferred. The group of cigarettes and mouthpiece attachments are then moved to a feed device and receive a connecting strip coated with adhesive, at a station provided. for this purpose. This connecting strip is folded around the abutting points conveniently on a further feed device, for example a drum; the hold ing of the individual parts being generally effected by air (vacuum).

In the second method mentioned it is also known that the cigarette-mouthpiece attachment assemblies are disposed together with the connecting strips in grooved recesses on the periphery of a rotary drum, in such a way that the centre cross section of each assembly is located on the level of the pitch circle of the drum driving wheel disposed coaxially thereto (for example a spur wheel). For the purposes of folding down the connecting strip the assembly is moved out of the pitch circle. By this change in the direction of the movement perpendicular to the previous movement path, which is moreover effected very rapidly tobacco often falls out at the ends so that on the one hand the machine is very quickly soiled and on the other hand the smoker has many tobacco particles in the mouth.

In another known construction of the second process the device is so constructed that the cigarette and the mouthpiece remain in the pitch circle but a special striker device is moved over the assembly in the longitudinal direction of the cigarette so that with this device difficulties are encountered in laying the connecting strip evenly and flatly about the abutting points, which has for its result that firstly the connection between the cigarette and the mouthpiece attachment is not satisfactorily effected and secondly that also the appearance of the cigarette is adversely affected.

In this connection it should also be stated that a further possibility, namely of pressing down the flaps by rolling the cigarette-mouthpiece attachment assembly for example on a conveyor at the abutting points, cannot be considered for the above mentioned grounds.

in the known devices already mentioned a flap is laid flat about the abutting points to enclose the connecting strip about the cigarette-mouthpiece assembly transversely to the longitudinal axis of the cigarette and to shift the assembly out of the pitch circle, while for the second flap the folding disc provided for this purpose does not engage and press down the flaps according to the curvature of the diameter of the cigarette and in consequence around the cigarette, but only engages the flaps at its outer part. By these means it may occur that only the end of the second flap is firmly pressed but not at the preceding parts. Also in this case a rigid connection between the mouthpiece assembly and the cigarette is not positively obtained.

The use of brushes cannot be considered for laying down the flaps since some brush hairs may easily fall out or may be withdrawn by the adhesive and can be stuck down.

The object of the invention is in the first place to reduce as much as possible the loss of tobacco from the ends of the cigarette and secondly to fold down the connecting strip completely and firmly at the abutting points. This is obtained according to the invention. by the fact that the folding device is arranged and moves on, a drum in a preferably radial direction with continu ous movement of the drum, and folds down the connecting: strip perpendicularly to the cigarette axis about the cigarette-mouthpiece attachment assembly, the centre cross section of which, from the receiving point to the delivery point of the assembly, lies on the drum at the level of the pitch circle of the drum driving gear wheel lying coaxially thereto, said gear wheel being for example a spur gear wheel.

During the continuous movement of the drum the folding elements of the folding device move around the periphery of the cigarette and against the connecting strips which are applied at a preceding position on. the cigarettemouthpiece attachment assembly; at the same time retaining pins or the like press on the cigarette from the opposite side. The folding elements follow the curvature of the cigarette and apply first one flap and then the second flap around the abutting points. The retaining pins are already separated from the cigarette-mouthpiece attachment assembly when the folding elements approach one another.

After the folding down of the connecting strip is terminated, the mouthpiece assembly is divided in known manner and both cigarettes are moved apart in suitable manner. This latter construction does not however fall within the scope of protection of the invention.

One constructional embodiment of the invention is shown and described in the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 shows a folding drum with a feeder drum, counterdrurn, cutting device and take ol'f belt, but without the folding down device, in diagrammatic side view,

Fig. 2 is a partial section of the folding drum according to Fig. l but with the folding down device and the counterdrum in side view and on an enlar ed scale.

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view showing one groove of the supporting drum with two cigarettes and the mouthpiece unit located between them and one-part folding elements, seen in the direction of the arrow III in Fig. 2,

Figs. 4 and 5 show other embodiments of the folding elements, and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of another folding device.

A rotary drum 2 (folding-down drum) is mounted on a shaft 1 and on its periphery there are grooved recesses 3 running parallel to the shaft 1. A plurality of radial passages 4 extend from the bottom of each recess 3 to a bore 4 extending axially beneath the recess 3, and said axial bore 4' which is closed at its ends communicates through a radial bore 4" with a segmental hollow space forming a suction chamber 5 within the drum 2. The

suction chamber 5 is in turn connected for example by a suction pipe 6 and a bore 7 through the shaft 1 with a suction device of known type.

Two cigarettes 8 are disposed non-rotatably for example in the recess 3 (see Fig. 3) and between them is a double-length mouthpiece assembly 8a for each two cigarettes together with a connecting strip or adhesive tape 9 (see Figs. 1 and 2) which projects in V-shaped manner from the recess 3. The cigarette-mouthpiece attachment assembly 8, 8a is fed to the folding drum 2 together with the connecting strip 9, in the present embodiment Fig. 1 from a drum 10 (feeder drum) on a shaft 11. A further drum 13 is mounted on a shaft 12 parallel to the shaft 1, which drum embodies two end walls the spacing of which is greater than the length of the folding elements and 36 and which are connected one with the other by means of spacer rods 14. These spacer rods 14 (holding pins) run parallel to the shaft 12 and during operation, press against the cigarettemouthpiece attachment assembly 8, 8a disposed in the grooves 3. Moreover gear wheels 15, 16, 17 are fixed to the shafts 1, 11 and 12 which gear wheels engage one with the other and contact one another at their pitch circles at the level of the mid-point of the assembly 8, 8a. While the assembly 8, 8a is connected with the suction chamber 5, the connecting strip 9 on the folding drum 2 is laid against the assembly by means of a folding device which will be described further below. At the points of the drum where suction is not exerted there is located a solid segment 5' which stops the flow of air.

The folding device is constructed as follows: for each groove 3 of the drum 2 there is provided a folding device consisting of two radially movable folder carriers.

One folder carrier 18 has at its outer end a pivot 19 about which a folding element 20 with rounded head 21 can rotate.

There is preferably provided in the pivot 19 a torsion spring 60 which tends to rotate the folding elements 20 continuously towards the assembly 8, 8a. Further a pin 22 is secured to the folder carrier 18, said pin forming a pivot for a lever 23 which is mounted on a shaft 24 for example by means of clamp screws 25. The lever 23 has at its forward end a slot 26 which serves for introduction of the pin 22. A second lever 27 is mounted on the shaft 24 and carries a roller 28 which rolls on a stationary cam track 29 of a cam disc. Further a tension spring 30 is secured to the folder carrier 18 which tends to draw the latter inwardly along a shaft 31 located adjacent it. The folding element serves to move one flap of the connecting strip 9 over the abutting points 33 of the assembly 8, 8a following the curvature of the assembly (Fig. 3).

In like manner the other folding element and its folder carrier for the other flap of the connection strip 9 is constructed and it operates in a similar manner. ing element 36 is rotatably supported by a pivot 35 on the folder carrier 34. A torsion spring is also located about the pivot 35 which tends to urge the fol-ding element 36 constantly inwardly. A lever 38 of the folder carrier which is supported on the shaft 31 moves relative to a pin 37 on the folder carrier 34. The drive is effected thence from a second stationary cam track 40 through a roller 41 and a lever 42 secured on the shaft 31 and then to the pin 37. A tension spring 43 pulls the folder carrier 34 inwards along the shaft 24. The cam tracks 29 and 40 lie one beyond the other in the example shown.

The fold- The method of operation of the device is shown in Fig. 2 in the successive working phases but it is possible that the sequence of the folding down may be effected in a different order. Likewise the folding down can be effected in a different sequence. In the example shown both folder carriers 18 and 34 are moved upwardly from the position shown on the left hand side of Fig. 2, and then the carrier 18 is moved up so far on its own until the elements 2i have been brought to the position 20 over the assembly 8, 8a and the one fiap has been folded onto the connecting strip 9. Then the return movement of. the carrier 18 commences and at the same time the forward movement of the other carrier 34 begins until this carrier has reached the position 36 whereupon the return movement of this carrier is effected and finally both carriers 34 and 18 move downwardly towards their starting position so far that the mouthpiece 8a can be cut through by the knife 44.

Instead of the folding-down device described an alternative device shown diagrammatically in Fig. 6 may be adopted. To one end of a member 45 of a link system a folding element 4-6 is connected by means of a pivot 47 provided with a torsion spring (not shown) similar to the spring 60. One arm of an angle lever 49 is connected to the member 45 by means of a pivot 48, and a rocking lever 51 is connected to the member 45 by means of a pivot 5d. The angle lever 49 rotates about a fulcrurn 52 and the rocking lever 51 pivots about a fulcrum 53. A roller 54 is provided at one end of the angle lever 49 which rolls in a cam track 55. A spring 56 may be additionally provided to absorb the play in the linkage in order to ensure smooth operation. The left hand section of the folding device according to Fig. 6 is of similar construction, but is not shown.

After folding down of the connecting strip 9 the mouthpiece 8a is divided. In the construction shown the division is effected on the folding drum. In this case a channellike recess 32 must be provided around the periphery of the drum for the cutting device 44, shown as a circular knife in Fig. 1. Finally the cigarettes are led away.

The mouthpiece attachments above referred to may be mouthpieces of any desired kind such for example as paper mouthpieces with and without filter inserts, filter mouthpiece elements with and without wrappings, filter mouthpieces with fillings of various kinds and so on.

The folding elements 2% and 36 can instead of being formed in one piece as in Fig. 3, also be divided into one or more parts as shown in Figs. 4 and 5.

What I claim is:

1. In an apparatus for attaching a mouthpiece toa cigarette by wrapping a piece of adhesive tape around the abutting end portions of said mouthpiece and cigarette, a rotatably mounted drum, means for rotating said drum, means on the circumference of said drum for nonrotatably supporting said mouthpiece and cigarette parallel with the axis of said drum and in abutting relation on said piece of adhesive tape with said piece of tape extending to both sides of the joint between said mouthpiece and cigarette, means mounted for radial movement in said drum at each side of said mouthpiece and cigarette, a member pivotally connected to each of said means mounted for radial movement at the outer end thereof, means urging said members into engagement with the outer side of said tape so as to fold said tape around said mouthpiece and cigarette during the outward movement of said means mounted for radial movement, and means associated with said means mounted for radial movement to move first the one at one side of said mouthpiece and cigarette and then the other one for said folding action during the rotation of said drum so as to fold first one end portion of said tape and then the other end portion thereof around said mouthpiece and cigarette.

2. An apparatus as in claim 1, wherein said supporting means is adapted to support two cigarettes and a double-length mouthpiece disposed in end abutting relation between said cigarettes.

3. An apparatus as in claim 1, including a counterdrum rotatably mounted adjacent said drum and provided with means for retaining said mouthpieces and cigarettes on said supporting means during the initial movement of said means mounted for radial movement in said drum.

4. In an apparatus for attaching a mouthpiece to a cigarette by wrapping a piece of adhesive tape around the abutting end portions of said mouthpiece and cigarette, a rotatably mounted drum, means for rotating said drum, means on the circumference of said drum for non-rotatably supporting said mouthpiece and cigarette parallel with the axis of said drum and in abutting relation on said piece of adhesive tape with said piece of tape extending to both sides of the joint between said mouthpiece and cigarette, means mounted for radial movement in said drum at each side of said mouthpiece and cigarette, a member pivotally connected to each of said means mounted for radial movement at the outer end thereof, means yieldingly urging said members into engagement with the outer side of said tape so as to fold said tape around said mouthpiece and cigarette during the outward movement of said means mounted for radial movement, and means associated with said means mounted for radial movement to move first the one at one side of said mouthpiece and cigarette and then the other one for said folding action during the rotation of said drum so as to fold first one end portion of said tape and then the other end portion thereof around said mouthpiece and cigarette.

5. In an apparatus for attaching a mouthpiece to a cigarette by wrapping a piece of adhesive tape around the abutting end portions of said mouthpiece and cigarette, a rotatably mounted drum, means for rotating said drum, means on the circumference of said drum for non-rotatably supporting said mouthpiece and cigarette parallel with the axis of said drum and in abutting relation on said piece of adhesive tape with said piece of tape extending to both sides of the joint between said mouthpiece and cigarette, means mounted for radial movement in said drum at each side of said mouthpiece and cigarette, a member pivotally connected to each of said means mounted for radial movement at the outer end thereof, means urging said members into engagement with the outer side of said tape so as to fold said tape around said mouthpiece and cigarette during the outward movement of said means mounted for radial movement, two levers, means pivotally connecting said levers to said drum, means pivotally connecting one of said levers to one of said means mounted for radial movement, means pivotally connecting the other of said levers to the other of said means mounted for radial movement, and separate cam means associated with said levers for pivoting them during the rotation of said drum to move first one of said means mounted for radial movement outwardly and then the other of said means mounted for radial movement outwardly so as to cause first one end portion of said tape and then the other end portion of said tape to be folded around said mouthpiece and cigarette.

6. An apparatus as in claim 5, including means on said drum for guiding said means mounted for radial movement during its radial movements.

7. An apparatus as in claim 5, including spring means connected with said drum and with said means mounted for radial movement, said spring means urging said means mounted for radial movement inwards.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 623,406 Lacoste Apr. 18, 1899 686,054 Grabau Nov. 5, 1901 970,011 Boucher Sept. 13, 1910 2,166,486 Edwards July 18, 1939 2,194,378 Bernd Mar. 19, 1940 

